Adam's Reckoning
by ElliotJA
Summary: Adam Mitchell's life has not been a pleasant one, as the Doctor is about to find out.


Adam Mitchell had lived his life alone for the last couple of years, ever since his parents had forced him to leave their home. He walked out of the door, down the road, the sounds of his mother crying receding as the distance increased. He never once looked behind him; there wasn't any point. He could never go back there again. And so he had just kept walking, always shunning other people. Always alone.

Because of the Doctor. He should not have just abandoned him like that. At the least, he should have restored him, made him normal. But he hadn't. He had preferred that Adam suffer.

It was at this point in his life the aliens took him. One day he had been walking down a street in a town somewhere, in the pouring rain, hearing and feeling the water splashing on the hood pulled up over his head. He was hungry, and hadn't eaten in a while. Adam had drifted through many similar towns, and did not expect this one to be any different. Of course, he never stayed long enough to fully experience them, being constantly afraid his secret would be found out. So he was definitely surprised when, passing through the town centre, a blinding light suddenly enveloped him, and he found himself sprawled on his backside on the floor of a room whose oddly warped, distorted walls pulsed eerie shades of red, orange, yellow and blue.

He wasn't the only one to have been taken. Also present were a community support officer, a post office worker, a cyclist, a teenage boy and girl, and a mother and her young son. They were all confused, all scared. What kind of place had they been taken to? And how, and why? The teenage boy wondered if it was some sort of group hallucination, while the cyclist suspected they were all dead and in the afterlife. Adam said nothing, still taking it all in. Once the support officer asked him if he was alright; he just nodded, then went back to thinking about what was going on.

Things were like that for a while, with them talking, worrying, arguing, or sitting or standing in silence. Some pounded on the walls and shouted at whoever or whatever had them imprisoned, but there was no response. Then, from somewhere beyond the walls that enclosed them, they heard a distant roaring and screeching sound, and muffled booms, like explosions. And then the whole chamber vibrated once, violently, and there was a louder boom. The little boy started crying, and his mother held him close.

Adam got up then as a new sound came, one oddly familiar, like a mechanical wheezing and groaning, and a shape began to materialise in the middle of the room. It was something large and blue, with a flashing light on top of it. Adam knew it, and his breath caught in his throat. The door of the blue box was flung open…and out stepped a total stranger. Not what he had expected.

"All of you, get inside!" the stranger said urgently. "This place will be destroyed in a few minutes, and us as well, unless we hurry!"

"Wait," the teenage girl said. "Who are you?"

The words the man said then shook Adam to the core: "I'm the Doctor! Now get into the TARDIS!" No. This was definitely not the same man Adam had met in Henry van Statten's museum years ago. His face, his voice, his clothes were totally different. But there was the TARDIS, all the same. It still looked like a British police telephone box on the outside, and once Adam and the others had rushed inside, he saw its interior was just as impossibly massive as he remembered.

The man calling himself the Doctor was talking as he operated the central console, explaining how he had rescued them from a particularly nasty bunch of aliens, who had teleported them into their vessel to be eaten later. He'd tried to be reasonable, but they would not be denied and a fight had started, resulting in critical damage that would destroy the aliens' ship. He'd only just been able to save the humans in time, so he said. Adam barely listened; his thoughts were in turmoil. He'd dreamed of one day meeting the Doctor again, but this was something he was not prepared for. He forced himself to think things through carefully, and his plan formed.

The man - the Doctor - eventually landed the TARDIS and opened the doors, letting daylight and fresh air sweep inside, and told the passengers they were home now. They sighed and laughed in relief as they walked outside….except Adam. He was the last to leave. He walked towards the exit, where the Doctor was standing, and then stopped at the threshold and looked directly at him. He pulled his hood down, and said "Do you know me?" His voice was cold.

The Doctor stared at him for a moment, then recognition glimmered in his eyes. "Adam…" he said softly. He seemed to be at a loss for words.

"Yeah, it's me, Doctor," Adam replied. A single tear ran down his cheek. "Remember? How you left me behind? How you destroyed my life? Do you?"

The Doctor reached out with his hand, sadness haunting his face. "Adam," he said. "Adam, please listen to me. I'm sorry - "

In a heartbeat, Adam had drawn the flick-knife from his pocket and stabbed it into the Doctor's chest. He stabbed again, and again. All the time looking into the Doctor's eyes. He heard someone scream, and felt someone grab him, forcing him to drop the knife, dragging him away. The Doctor slumped against the TARDIS door, blood staining his shirt. He saw Adam's face twisted with anguish and rage, and heard him screaming "I've got you, Doctor! I've finally got you back for what you did!"

The Doctor was in a lot of pain that day. And not just from the stab wounds.


End file.
